THESE GUIDELINES have been prepared by the Office of the Provost in coordination
with the
Norman Campus Faculty Senate and the University of Oklahoma Student Association
to summarize
students and faculty rights and responsibilities under the Academic Misconduct
Code.
FACULTY AND STUDENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
UNDER THE CODE
It is a student's right to learn in an atmosphere of integrity and mutual
trust. It is an accused student's right, before any penalty is imposed,
to receive reasonable notice of the incident and to have a chance to respond
in accordance with the provisions of the Academic Misconduct Code.
It is a student's responsibility to know and abide by the academic community's
expectations regarding individual academic effort; the community's conventions
for using the work of others; and all specific course and University rules
that relate to academic evaluation. For further information, see "A
Student's Guide to Academic Integrity at the University of Oklahoma."
It is a faculty member's right to expect that all students who seek instruction
and evaluation will do so honestly.
It is a faculty member's responsibility to support integrity and to follow
the Academic Misconduct Code's procedures for either admonishing the student
or filing a complaint of misconduct before imposing any penalty for misconduct.
A STUDENT MAY REPORT ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT to a faculty or staff member
whenever it occurs, whether or not the student is in the same class or
has firsthand knowledge of the incident. Only a faculty or staff member
may take action to file a charge or impose an admonition
for academic misconduct.
A STUDENT MAY BE ACCUSED OF ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT whenever a faculty or
staff member believes, after reasonable investigation where necessary,
that academic misconduct has occurred and that the student has some responsibility
for it. The professor who believes misconduct has occurred may either
give the student an admonition and grade penalty or file a complaint of
academic misconduct.
CHOOSING AND IMPOSING THE ADMONITION
Choosing the admonition. An instructor who determines that a student
is responsible for an act of misconduct may impose an admonition (warning)
plus a grade penalty and/or remedial work, without filing a charge of
academic misconduct, if:
(1) The instructor determines that the incident is not egregious.
The incident should merit no penalty greater than a zero on the assignment.
The instructor may also determine that the incident is better treated
as an instructional rather than a disciplinary matter. Serious and/or
repeat offenses are not appropriate for admonitions. The instructor may
verify the absence of prior admonitions by contacting the Provost's
office.
(2) The incident occurs in an academic exercise that does not involve
a semester-long activity. The exercise cannot be a final examination,
a term paper or project, a graduate thesis or dissertation, or an examination
that determines the status of graduate students (e.g. qualifying, candidacy,
general, comprehensive, or certification examination, or a thesis or dissertation
defense)
Imposing the admonition. To impose the admonition and any penalty
or remedial work, the instructor should do the following:
(1) Inform the student of the incident and how the instructor concluded
that the incident occurred.
(2) give the student an opportunity to respond or explain;
(3) admonish the student and explain the grade reduction or other requirement
to be imposed (where appropriate, the student should also receive instruction
to resolve any confusion the student may have had regarding what constitutes
proper academic conduct); and
(4) inform the student, in writing, how to appeal the decision.
Steps 1, 2 and 3 can occur informally in a meeting with the student
or by any other means reasonably calculated to provide the student with
the necessary information. Face-to-face meetings are preferred but not
required. The information in requirements 1, 2, and 3 need not be provided
in writing. Requirement 4, information regarding appeal, must be provided
in writing. This requirement may be satisfied by including a link to this
webpage in the course syllabus.
In addition, the admonition should be reported to the Campus Judicial
Coordinator. An optional form for this purpose is available HERE.
Reporting the incident is important so that repeat offenses can be tracked.
In addition, providing the student with a copy of this report helps to
establish that requirements 1-4 were met in the event of a later challenge
to the admonition.
ACCEPTING OR CONTESTING THE ADMONITION
Accepting the admonition. Acceptance of an admonition means the
following:
(1) The student may receive a grade penalty no greater than a zero on
the assignment.
(2) The student may be required to do additional, remedial work such
as rewriting a plagiarized paper.
(3) The admonition will be reported to the Provost. It will not be counted,
or reported outside the University, as an act of misconduct. However,
if the student is ever again charged or admonished for academic misconduct,
the prior admonition will count as proof that the student has been warned
about misconduct and specifically informed about the standards for academic
integrity. Therefore, the admonition may lead to a more severe penalty
for any future offense.
(4) The Provost will review the incident and may propose a more severe
penalty if the incident is particularly egregious or is a repeat offense.
Any student for whom an additional penalty is proposed will get an additional
notice and opportunity to contest the admonition. The student's previous
decision to accept the admonition will not be construed as an admission
of guilt.
Contesting the admonition. Any student who receives an admonition
can contest it. To do so, the student must contact the Student Conduct Office within 15 regular class days after receiving the
admonition.
The Student Conduct Office is located in Alley House, Cross Center. Director and Campus Judicial Coordinator, Andrea Baker, can be reached at 325-1540 or abaker@ou.edu. A regular
class day is any day, Monday through Friday, when classes regularly meet.
It does not include weekends, holidays, and Intersessions. The CJC may
establish reasonable deadlines for a followup meeting or the receipt of
additional
information.
If the student chooses to contest the admonition (or the Provost's proposal
of a greater penalty) the student retains all the rights that the Code
gives any student against whom a complaint is filed. These rights include
the right to representation, hearing, appeal, and the assignment of a
neutral grade while the matter is pending. However, if guilt is subsequently
established, the case will be reviewed in its entirety by the instructor,
the Academic Misconduct Board, the student's dean, and the Provost. Penalties
will be imposed as appropriate under the Code and will not be limited
to the grade penalty initially proposed in the admonition.
THE MISCONDUCT COMPLAINT
Unless the student is admonished as provided above, a misconduct complaint
must be filed before any penalty is imposed or remedial work required
of the student. Conduct for which the student is neither admonished nor
charged cannot ordinarily form the basis for any penalty, any conclusion
as to a student's guilt on a later complaint, or any enhancement of the
penalty in a later case.
Choosing to file a complaint. It is appropriate to file a charge
rather than impose an admonition whenever the conduct is egregious enough
to warrant penalties greater than a zero on the assignment, whenever the
assignment is one that does not permit admonitions for misconduct, and
whenever the instructor deems it impossible or inappropriate to contact
the student directly regarding the incident.
Filing a complaint. Ordinarily within 15 regular class days of
the incident, the instructor should send the campus judicial coordinator
this form, or a memorandum, or an e-mail containing the following information:
the student, the class, the date of the discovery, the nature of the incident,
and the proposed grade penalty if any. The CJC will then take responsibility
for notifying the student and all other necessary university officials.
Grades and other actions pending outcome. The presumption of innocence
means that the student may continue to attend class, receive grades, and
enroll in future semesters while the complaint is pending. However, during
that time a student may not graduate, may not receive transcripts without
permission from the Provost, and may not receive credit for the course
in which the misconduct occurred. If a final grade must be reported for
the course while the case is pending, the grade should be reported as
N. N is a temporary, neutral grade that is used in many circumstances
where the instructor has not yet reported a final grade.
Student's options: right to a hearing, etc. A student who receives a
charge of misconduct may admit to the charge or deny the charge. Prior
to making this choice, the student may seek a meeting with the person
filing the charge in order to clarify any misunderstandings. This meeting
is not mandatory and will take place only if both parties desire it. Ordinarily,
a student who admits to the charge will meet with his or her dean to take
responsibility for incident and discuss any mitigating factors. The dean
will then make a recommendation to the Provost as to the disciplinary
sanction. A student may have a hearing in order to deny the charge, to
dispute any part of the instructor's version of events, or for any other
reason. Hearings should be scheduled within twenty class days of the request.
When that is administratively impracticable, the student has the right
to receive transcripts without special permission from the Provost and
without notation of academic misconduct.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
The "STUDENT'S GUIDE TO ACADEMIC INTEGRITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF
OKLAHOMA" provides information about OU's basic expectations regarding
academic integrity.
A procedural FLOWCHART is available to outline and explain the steps
in the academic
misconduct system.
The full text of the ACADEMIC MISCONDUCT CODE is included together with
the STUDENT CODE and also as Appendix 13 of the FACULTY HANDBOOK.
Yearly REPORTS on the incidence of misconduct at OU, Norman Campus.
DISCLAIMER
The guidelines above merely interpret the Academic Misconduct
Code for the convenience of students and faculty. The Academic Misconduct
Code is a policy of the OU Regents. Nothing in these guidelines should
be understood to overrule or conflict with the Code.
